This is something I have been thinking about for a little while and it seems I wasn’t the only one. A letter to Mike Lee that was included in the transport committee agenda suggests that a public competition be held to come up with a name for the our new electric trains (EMUs). Here is what the letter said:
A mock up of what the new trains will look like
As mentioned, having a little naming competition is something I have been thinking about for a while myself so with that in mind so what do think, should we give them a name and if so what should call them? (and no comments about the colour schemes please)
A naming competition sounds like a good idea. If it is to be a Maori name, I suggest ‘tere’, speed or quickness
Maybe we should call outs “Moas”.
Well, that failed. Supposed to be a reply to Matthew, and ‘outs’ should be ‘ours’.
Yes, I think so hamish. Ride-on Moas.
In Marree, South Australia I saw a few emus being kept as pets. Maybe we can ask them what they call theirs.
“Inventing” a name makes more sense when you need one for common conversation, but I think the need to name the Auckland trains is less than that in Wellington ( Although one of the big reasons behind naming the Wellington units has recently disappeared)
My logic for this is that things need names if they are going to be used in conversation and to easily distinguish them from other things,
Wellington’s need was due to having two kinds of rolling stock thus people would be searching for a name to distinguish the “new” trains from the “old” ones, thus there was a need for the “Matangi” name – however this need has evaporated with the move to a common fleet type. I think that will cause the general use of the name Matangi to fall as once there is only one class of rolling stock, they will simply be known as “the train”
e.g On the Johnsonville line regular customers have always referred to the units as “the train” as that it what they were, there was no need to distinguish between the types of train as there was only ever one.
Auckland will have a fleet on one class from the start, regular customers are going to refer to them as “the train” as they will not need another name for comparison with anything else.
Sure AT can go and figure out a nice class name, but I don’t think that it will really become a name in common usage.
Well, there’ll be at least two years with the old and new running at once, and after that there’ll still be diesels from Pukekohe and Waitakere, so there will be several types. Maybe they’ll be called the ‘electrics’ and ‘diesels’.
I think that is actually very likely, SteveD – but one never knows how random chance and people’s tastes will turn out. Some random other name could catch on – so it might indeed make sense to do as Mike Lee suggested.
There has been much negativity and complaint (rightly so) about the service level of trains. As a small feel good publicity exercise it is a good idea, even if the name doesn’t stay in common usage.
But I thought they were already named: there’s a big roundel on the side of that mock-up that says ‘cat’, or something.
Not sure if we should be naming the EMUs, but I think we should give the train a name that reflects the line it travels along. Something along the lines of Western Express, Eastern Link, Southern Traveller. That sort of thing, but I know my examples are pretty bland.
I think that would not be all that useful, seeing that the trains will be shuffled around as need demands – they will presumably all have the same livery, so giving them different names is unlikely to catch on, and could dilute the brand. I do like the fact however that our rail system’s lines are so simply named. No confusion there (depressing that despite this fact, it IS confusing to find the right train at Britomart, as a newbie – can’t they just put the line itself on the display boards? How should a newbie or visitor know that station X mentioned as a stop equates to line Z?)
Definitely. The difference between Eastern and Southern lines is a tiny /GI or /N at the end of the destination – how in the hell is anyone supposed to figure that out?
It’d also be nice if the different lines had dedicated platforms at Britomart, and if the platforms were labelled (towards/away from city) at the other stations.
to bring a touch of ironic levity to the proceedings, I suggest the “Brownlees”
Don’t give the new EMUs a name. They don’t need a name as in Wellington’s case, Matangi was used to distinguish them from the much older EMUs that had been around for some years.
It would much better to give the EMUs a clearly different external / internal colour scheme so they are very distinguishable from the older DMUs. Use the new AT logo more effectively / dramatically on the side of the EMUs so that people talk about ‘the AT train’ (EMU) as opposed to ‘the train’ (DMU). That will make people want to ride the new trains – the AT Train. Associating the letters AT directly with the new EMUs, will be far more effective than giving them any other moniker.
Maybe the ‘A Train’?
And for the trains gonig out west: The Westbound Train – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkaNeYNlAik
Hmmm…not bad…the ‘A Train’….I like it!
Once all the EMUs are up and running, the DMUs will be seen around Pukekohe/Papakura and Waitakere (?) only. Most train users will therefore hardly ever see them again. Do people in Wellington really say “I’m taking a Matangi”? And if at all would they do it to distinguish it from an older type? A train is a train. Still, having a naming competition of sorts would be good for publicity.
I took the train in Wellington for several years – it was always just ‘the train’ for me….you can differentiate using ‘old/crappy train’ and ‘new/flash train’ to be more specific, if desired, but in the end, it’s the same mode of transport we’re talking about!
I suspect in that case people will say the electric train and the diesel train.
…paint the whole train yellow and call it ‘The Yellow Submarine’.
They won’t go under the water table until the CRL is built
When is sea level rise due again? :-0
A train by any other name is still a train, so that is my preference. Call a train a train and a spade a spade.
This is cheap publicity for the council, and perhaps saves some money without the need for pricey focus groups and marketers. It does no harm if it is done and the publicity will help with advertising public transport.
Shinkansen
Often called ‘The Shink’ by expats in Japan.
and yes, that is sarcasm
Just as Wellington is the city of wind, Auckland is the city of volcanoes and harbors. What is the Maori word for those?
Our national language is English, thanks.
No: Maori Language Act 1987.
I think a name is a good thing such as what we have in Sydney with tangaras, millennium, warratahs, oscars. And yes people do call them by these names, especially the tangaras which have it in large writing on the side of the trains. In future these emus won’t be the only class Auckland has as there will no doubt be new series introduced in the years to comr
Indeed. Names are useful things, as they help people distinguish what product they’re getting. Where that difference is real (as it surely is here), they underline it. Go for it.
Akoranga o Takahe